


Misunderstandings

by Math_and_Lunacy



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, POV Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:35:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27018910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Math_and_Lunacy/pseuds/Math_and_Lunacy
Summary: In which Plagg may have a certain fondness for the ridiculously dramatic love scenarios of our heroes.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Misunderstandings

Plagg was an ancient being. In his long life, he’d seen just about everything there was to see. Nothing could surprise him. Nothing could move him.

The television in his chosen’s room snapped off and Plagg nearly fell off the perch he’d made for himself on top of the boy’s dresser. “Hey!” he snapped.

“Oh, sorry,” said Adrien, he gave Plagg an odd look, “Were you… were you watching that?”

“Of course not,” said Plagg, brushing himself off and flying nimbly through the air toward his chosen. “How was dinner? Did you bring any cheese?”

Adrien handed over a small wheel, not horrible quality, but definitely not the best either. Plagg accepted it with his usual grace. “Where’d you get this crap? A dumpster?”

“The refrigerator actually,” said Adrien, rolling his eyes, “Chef says it’s low fat.”

Plagg stopped eating at once and began coughing the insult out onto Adrien’s pillow.

“Plagg! Ugh that’s disgusting, stop it!”

“I know it’s disgusting. Your father should fire that man at once.”

“He’s earned Michelin stars—.”

“Let’s just get out of here,” said Plagg, stretching and floating around in front of Adrien’s face, “This place is stifling. Let’s find some real cheese.”

“I was going to do some homework,” said Adrien.

Plagg thought that sounded outrageously boring. “Do it later,” he argued, “Let’s get the cheese before the markets close.”

And because Adrien was an easily persuaded sort, the boy said, “Claws Out,” and let Plagg lead them to an open-air evening market in the park near his school. He had to transform back into Adrien to buy the cheese, and Plagg hung out in his scarf while Adrien interacted with the stall owner. 

There was a copse of trees near the edge of the park, and Adrien easily climbed to the high branches of one of them in order to keep Plagg concealed while he ate. Adrien leaned back against the trunk and waited.

“Want some?” said Plagg, quite graciously, if he did say so himself. 

Adrien blinked away whatever daydream he’d been lost in and said, “Uh, no. You know I don’t like cheese, Plagg.”

Plagg scoffed, “Your sense of taste will get more refined once you’re older,” he said. 

They sat in quiet for a few minutes, watching the workers at the market begin to close up their stalls for the evening. There was a quiet commotion nearby as the pink material surrounding the stall for the Dupain-Cheng Bakery was torn down and placed into bins. “Oh look, there’s your girlfriend,” said Plagg, spying the girl who sat behind Adrien in class, and occasionally fought criminals with him. 

Adrien scrambled in his spot, “Where?” he said, “Plagg, that’s not Kagami. That’s Marinette.”

Plagg took a bite of his cheese. 

The girl was carrying a large table which Plagg suspected was a bit too heavy for a human of her stature. Some of Tikki’s magic was clearly wearing off on her. “Maybe you should go say hi,” suggested Plagg. 

“What? Oh, um, yeah. You think?”

He brushed a hand through his hair nervously and Plagg smirked.

“Claws Out!” he said.

And before Plagg had a chance to protest that, no, he meant say hi as himself, Plagg was sucked into his chosen’s ring and dispersing his power over Adrien’s clothes, changing them. Chat Noir leapt neatly out of the tree to land just behind Marinette. With a loud crash she dropped the table and turned to face Chat, arms out as though prepared for an attack.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, and instantly relaxed. 

“Need some help?” he asked, indicating the heavy looking table on the ground. 

“Um, okay,” agreed Marinette, hands reaching up to smooth out her hair. An instant later she seemed to realize what she was doing and let her hands fall back to her sides. “I mean, I guess I could use some help from a big, strong superhero of Paris.” She fluttered her eyes dramatically and Plagg observed as his helpless human fell for it. 

“That’s me,” said Chat Noir, “Superhero extraordinaire.” Making a show of it, Chat Noir reached down and picked up the table with one hand. “Where to?”

Marinette was smirking, “The bakery, if you please.”

Chat whistled while he walked, carrying the table in what was clearly an awkward, one-handed grip. 

“So, what brings you out to the market tonight?” asked Marinette once they reached the bakery. She flipped the lights on and then led Chat into the back room so he could stow the table. 

“Had to get some cheese for my kwami. He didn’t like the low-fat offering I had for him at home.”

Marinette chuckled.

“What about you?” said Chat.

“Just working, selling pastries with my family. I bet we have some leftovers.”

As soon as she spoke, the bell at the front door jingled and in walked Marinette’s parents. “Is that Chat Noir?” called Marinette’s very large father. Plagg liked the man because he looked very intimidating for a human.

He crossed the room and enveloped Chat in a tight hug (the big softy). “It is! The next great pastry chef, Chat Noir. Welcome back!”

“Tom, let him go,” said Mrs. Cheng, smirking at her husband as she shook her head. “It’s nice to see you Chat, dear. Thank you for helping Marinette with that table.”

“It was no problem Mrs. Cheng,” said Chat, hand reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. 

“Why don’t you come upstairs for a bit?”

Chat agreed and the four of them went up to the apartment above the bakery. They seated themselves in the living room before the television. Plagg noted that there was an odd feeling in the air, like there were eyes on him, but Chat didn’t seem concerned, and didn’t look around to find the source of that feeling. Plagg shrugged it off. 

Mrs. Cheng placed some leftover pastries on a tray and Mr. Dupain turned on the large flat screen in front of them, and of course, his gaming console. “It’s good you’re here Chat Noir. Marinette’s friend Max designed this video game about, well, the miraculous holders and the akumas. So far, he’s won all of our matches, but maybe you can give me some secret Chat Noir tips?”

Marinette giggled and pulled her feet up under her to watch. 

Chat agreed, ready to impart knowledge, but Mr. Dupain soundly defeated him, over and over again. The man seemed to have an uncanny ability to understand each and every one of the miraculous powers he was given in the game. “I see where Marinette gets her video games skill,” said Chat. Plagg suspected there was something more to it. 

Beside them on the couch, Marinette snorted lightly. Chat looked over and saw that she was embroidering some sort of turquoise pattern on a beanie hat. 

“What’s that?” he asked, always curious about Marinette’s work.

“It’s a gift,” she said, looking up and smiling at Chat.

“It’s for her boyfriend,” said Mr. Dupain, “Her real one this time, no offense, Chat Noir, but I double checked with this one. Had to make sure he was actually in love with our Marinette. His name is Luka. Oh, do you know him, Chat? He seems like a nice boy, no future pastry chef, but pretty alright.”

Chat gulped. “Um, yeah. He’s great.”

Marinette looked surprised.

“How are things with Ladybug?” asked Mrs. Cheng.

“Oh, um, that, well,” he trailed off, right hand up, scratching the back of his neck again, “I’m actually dating someone else now. Ladybug, you know, didn’t return my feelings, um, as it turns out.”

“You are?!” said Marinette, she missed a stitch in her embroidery and ended up stabbing herself in the finger. She shook out her finger and put down her project, looking curiously at Chat.

Chat blinked, “Yeah. Can’t wait forever, right?”

“I… I mean, yeah, I suppose?”

“Oh, young love,” said Mr. Dupain, happily, “It’s almost like today’s episode of my favorite soap opera, The Mysteries of Love. You won’t believe what happened today. Ingrid, who thought she was dating Nicolas, found out that she was actually—.”

Beep. Beep. BEEP!

Chat glanced down at his ring. “I’d better go,” he said, “Transformation is about to let up.”

Rather than walk back down the stairs, as a normal human would, Chat pushed open the second-floor window and leapt out into the night. He raced back home, snuck into his bedroom and turned off the piano recording he’d left playing so it would sound like he was practicing. He released his transformation and Plagg went floating out to the couch. 

Plagg snagged a piece of cheese and took a large bite as he relaxed, “That was way more fun than homework,” said Plagg.

“Yeah,” agreed Adrien, looking thoughtful. He walked across his bedroom and picked up his school bag. “Plagg,” he said, sitting down at his computer chair, “Do you think Marinette was mad at me?”

Plagg closed his eyes and savored his bite of cheese. “Nope. Not today,” he said.

“But it must have hurt her to hear that I was dating someone else, after I rejected her for Ladybug.”

Plagg hummed. 

Adrien set to work for a while, filling in some worksheet covered in numbers and symbols that Plagg didn’t really understand, nor care to. After a few minutes though, the boy set his pencil down, “Marinette is a really great girl,” he said. “She’s kind to everyone, and she stands up to people when she thinks they’re wrong. She became friends with Kagami when no one else wanted to.”

“And your point is?” said Plagg, sniffing curiously at the cheese pastry that Marinette had handed them as they left her house.

“I don’t know, Plagg, maybe if she’d been interested in me as Adrien, instead of just as Chat Noir, you know?”

Plagg sucked in a breath and nearly choked on the bite of pastry he’d been about to swallow. 

“Plagg? Plagg, are you alright?”

Plagg worked to gulp down the pastry and then cleared his throat. Once that was finished, he floated across the room and landed on Adrien’s tablet, staring fondly up at his chosen. The boy was just a treasure trove of entertainment, wasn’t he? Plagg wished he’d had a video camera so he could record what Adrien had just said and play it for Tikki later. In fact, he picked up the tablet and began searching for the recording button.

“What are you doing?” said Adrien.

“Nothing, nothing. Just, will you say that bit again? About wishing Marinette had been interested in you as Adrien rather than just as Chat Noir?”

“Why?” said Adrien.

“Posterity,” said Plagg, who’d successfully found the recording button and was officially ready to begin his career as a documentarian.

“Knock it off, Plagg,” said Adrien, rolling his eyes.

\----

Several weeks later, when Hawkmoth finally struck again (after his disastrous attempt to use Chloe to take over the city), he was joined by a hale and healthy Mayura. 

The akumatized victim was a protestor for the Cirque du Soleil which was visiting Paris that week. The akumatized woman, just like Monseiur Ramier before her, wanted justice for the animals. Only this time, the animals were elephants, and they were rampaging through the city, destroying cars and store fronts. The sentimonster Mayura had conjured was a giant flying elephant, and while the akuma, Les Misér-éléphantes, demanded the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses, Mayura rode about on her elephant demanding the whole damn miracle box. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir took shelter under a bridge while they decided what to do. “We need help,” said Ladybug.

Plagg was inclined to agree.

“Ryuko,” said Ladybug, at the exact moment that Chat Noir said, “Multimouse.”

It was a good thing Plagg wasn’t able to laugh right then, because he definitely would have.

“We can’t use Multimouse,” said Ladybug at once.

“We can,” insisted Chat Noir, “Marinette is the only miraculous user, apart from us, that Hawkmoth doesn’t know about. She was great at it too, which is good, because we don’t exactly have the time to train someone new right now. And besides,” he added, with a thoughtful smirk, “Elephants hate mice.”

Ladybug bit her lip, “But Ryuko—.”

“Is Kagami, as Hawkmoth knows well. It would be easy for Mayura to capture one of her loved ones as hostage and convince Kagami to surrender her miraculous.”

Ladybug bit her lip, she muttered something that Plagg was pretty easily able to distinguish as the name “Adrien.”

He wasn’t sure if Chat had understood it as well until the boy spoke up, “Actually, they’re not dating anymore.”

“Wait, they’re not?” said Ladybug. Plagg wondered if Chat had noted her obvious interest.

Chat shrugged. 

“Well you know Marinette, er Multimouse, isn’t dating anyone anymore either,” said Ladybug.

And as much as Plagg would have loved to follow this line of conversation, a herd of elephants went tromping over the bridge above them, knocking cars into the water beside them. 

“Distract Les Mis,” commanded Ladybug, “I’ll be back with Multimouse.”

And distract they did. Chat Noir surged up to the top of the bridge and engaged Les Mis with his baton. “I dreamed a dream that you would give me your miraculous, Chat Noir!” screamed the akuma victim, lashing out at Chat with her elephant goad.

Chat parried and back-flipped out of the way of a several elephants. 

Plagg half paid attention to the fight. He was exceedingly curious about what the girl would do in order to bring Multimouse back. Was she going to have to use Trixx again? Create another elaborate illusion?

Plagg heard her calling from a nearby roof. There were clearly two dark haired, twin-tailed girls up on that roof, one in red and one in grey. What was difficult to say from where Chat stood though was how big they were. Sure, they could have been normal sized, but Plagg was willing to bet a wheel of camberbert that they were each half the size they should have been. Perspective was an interesting trick. 

“Chat Noir, we’re going for Mayura, keep fighting Les Mis!” shouted Ladybug, or maybe it was Multimouse. So difficult to say.

They split up and so Plagg didn’t get to see exactly what happened. But he was sure he spied about twenty different Ladybugs scaling the side of Mayura’s flying elephant. It was over pretty quickly from there. There was a squeaky little cry of “Lucky charm!” from somewhere behind Chat and a bag of peanuts landed in Chat’s open hand. He tossed it at the nearest bunch of elephants and when Les Mis dodged out of the way, Chat was able to capture the goad in her hand and land a cataclysm to free the akuma. 

As the akuma floated away, Chat looked up just in time to see a second lucky item, a parachute, open up at the exact moment the sentimonster disappeared. All of the tiny superheroines were grabbing onto the parachute, and by the time it reached the ground, they had all coalesced back into one girl, Multimouse. 

“Hello Multimouse,” said Chat, bowing smoothly, “Great work up there.”

“Thanks! You too,” she replied. She was looking around, examining the damage to the city and Plagg really wished he had some cheesy popcorn to eat while he watched her try and get out of this without revealing that she was also Ladybug. He wondered where Tikki was hiding.

“So where is Ladybug?” asked Chat, also looking around.

“Um, well,” said Multimouse, “She came down here to cast her Lucky Charm once we’d figured out Mayura’s amok.”

“Yeah, I guess elephants really do love peanuts,” said Chat.

“And well I haven’t seen her since.”

“Huh,” said Chat. He glanced up at Multimouse then, and realized she was biting her lip and looking just generally uncomfortable. “Something wrong, oh Mysterious Multimouse?”

“What? Oh! Um, nothing really. I just really have to go. Ladybug can pick up my miraculous tonight, right? She knows where I live.”

He winked at her. “Maybe I’ll swing by and get it myself. I could get a pastry while I’m there. My kwami really liked that cheese Danish you gave us last time.”

“Ahaha,” said Multimouse, the epitome of discomfort, “Yeah, sure. If Ladybug doesn’t get there first.”

“A competition,” said Chat with relish.

Mutlimouse looked vaguely green, “Sure.”

She turned around and pulled out her jump rope. “I’d better go. Bye Chat!”

“Bye!”

He watched her toss the end of the jump rope toward the nearest fire escape, in just the same way Ladybug tossed her yoyo. Unfortunately, the jump rope wasn’t quite the same, and it didn’t catch hold. Multimouse wound up tripping and falling in a move that was so patently Marinette Dupain-Cheng, that Plagg had to wonder if the girl did it on purpose. 

Chat Noir chuckled, “Need any help over there?”

“All good!” She sprung to her feet and ran off into the fading afternoon light.

“Now where is Ladybug?” said Chat. “Someone is going to have to fix this city.”

Plagg watched the girl swing back toward them, dressed in red this time, glasses missing. She landed on the parachute that she’d used as Multimouse, snagged the empty bag of peanuts out of Chat’s hand and then tossed them both straight up into the air. “Lucky Charm!” she yelled. 

The magic took effect. “Sorry, had to feed Tikki,” she said.

Chat watched the city repair itself, glass flying back into window displays, car alarms ceasing. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Ladybug doubled over.

“You alright milady?”

She cast him a scathing side eye. “Just tired. Two lucky charms today. I’ve never done that before.”

“You’re getting stronger,” said Chat.

“Let’s hope,” she replied. 

They touched fists in their typical celebratory fashion and then scurried off to the nearest rooftop. Plagg was rather exhausted himself, but he kept the transformation going so he could see what these two would say to each other now. 

“Multimouse did great today, didn’t she?” said Chat proudly, “Didn’t I tell you she’d be perfect?”

“Yeah, really great,” said Ladybug dryly. 

“Oh come on, don’t say it like that. She was awesome!”

Ladybug looked at him strangely, “You know Chat Noir, it almost sounds to me like… er like you might have a little crush?” She’d started off so confidently, Plagg noted with amusement. 

Chat laughed and turned to leap over to the next rooftop. 

“Wait, do you?” said Ladybug, voice strangled as she landed next to him.

“Do I what?” He sprinted over the next two rooftops and Ladybug followed.

“Have a crush on Multimouse? Do you… do you like her?” she asked, once they’d stopped again.

Chat paused and looked at her. “Er, listen milady, I’m not really sure you’re the best person for me to have this conversation with given our, you know, our history. But you’re the one who was telling me just before you went and got her that she wasn’t seeing Luka anymore.”

Ladybug blinked, “I--.”

Chat chuckled, clearly pleased at her loss for words. He leapt over a few more rooftops.

“But what about your girlfriend?” said Ladybug at last.

Chat considered her, “Who said I had a girlfriend?”

“You lied?” demanded Ladybug.

“I never lied. I mean, I was dating someone for a little while, but it didn’t really work out. I think she could sense I was interested in someone else.”

“Was it me?” said Ladybug softly.

Chat considered her for a moment, “So forward milady,” he said, matching her tone, and stepping closer, “I didn’t think that was your style.”

There was something deep and searing in the look they were giving one another, and so Plagg decided to intervene. Entertaining as this was turning out to be, he was hungry, and he had things to do. He gave Adrien a few warning beeps. 

“Looks like I’ve got to go,” said Chat. He gave Ladybug a cheeky grin and then bounded away in the general direction of the Agreste mansion. 

When he got home, Adrien released the transformation and fell back onto his bed. “Plagg, I’m confused,” said his poor chosen. 

Plagg smirked and went for the store of cheese he had accumulating in Adrien’s nightstand. 

“Do you think,” he said, standing up and heading toward the shower, “Do you think it’s possible to like two girls at once?”

Plagg considered. “You mean Marinette and that other girl?” he asked innocently, “The one who worked with Longg?”

“Erm no,” said Adrien, “Kagami and I broke up. I thought I told you about that? You were in my fencing bag when it happened.”

Plagg took a bite of cheese and looked for the television remote. “Oh… right,” he said.

“I actually meant Marinette and Ladybug,” said Adrien. Plagg heard the showerhead turn on and various noises from the bathroom. He turned the volume up on the television, and relaxed in his favorite spot, wrapped in Adrien’s scarf on his dresser.

“I thought I was over Ladybug,” said Adrien, coming out of the bathroom half dressed.

Plagg sighed and turned the volume up a little bit more, “Ingrid, my love, we cannot do this anymore.”

“But Plagg, didn’t it seem like, I don’t know, like she was a little overly interested in whether or not I had a thing for Marinette?”

Between mouthfuls of cheese Plagg muttered, “I noticed Ladybug was particularly interested in whether Adrien Agreste was still dating Kagami.”

“Oh my God!” said Adrien. Plagg looked over and the boy’s face was the sort you’d expect on someone who’d just seen lightning for the first time. “You think Ladybug likes Kagami!”

Plagg bit his lip to keep from laughing. 

“It makes so much sense!” said Adrien, “Ladybug always tries to give a miraculous to Kagami, even when there are other options. And that would explain why she was never interested in me. Oh my God! I just really wasn’t her type!”

Adrien went back into the shower, then thirty seconds later came back out, dripping water everywhere. “And remember on the day of Chloe’s parents’ anniversary? Ladybug got really annoyed with me when I was flirting with Ryuko, which is of course just Kagami in costume. It’s all making sense now.”

He stood there a moment, thoughtful, “She could have told me. I would have understood.”

“No comment,” muttered Plagg.

When Adrien finally emerged from the bathroom half an hour later, fully clean and styled hair, he said to Plagg, “I wonder if Ladybug ever picked up the Mouse miraculous from Marinette. Do you think we should swing by and double check?”

Plagg considered. On the one hand, a cheese danish would really hit the spot just about then. On the other hand, Plagg was very comfortable, and he was certain that Ingrid was about to-.

"What should I do if Ladybug is there? I don't think I can face Marinette and Ladybug at the same time right now."

"Oh she'll be there," muttered Plagg.

"Really?" said Adrien, "Do you think?"

Plagg crossed his arms and began inching the volume back up on the TV. "You know, I never noticed before, Plagg, but Marinette and Ladybug are actually kind of similar in some ways, if you think about it."

Plagg halted, one hand laying on the volume-up button. 

His chosen looked thoughtful for several long seconds. And then, "It's just so weird how adamant Ladybug is about not giving Marinette a Miraculous, don't you think? Plagg? Don't you think that's weird?"

"So weird," said Plagg wryly, turning back to the screen so that he could make out what Ingrid was saying to Nicholas. He glanced at Adrien out of the corner of his eye, curious to hear the ridiculously incorrect explanation his chosen would come up with for this one. Perhaps Ladybug was so in love with Kagami that she was jealous of Marinette. Perhaps Ladybug was in love with Marinette and she just wanted to protect Marinette from using the Miraculous. Perhaps Kagami, Marinette, and Ladybug were all secretly Mayura's love-children with Hawkmoth.

"Ladybug has no reason to dislike Marinette. In fact, they're not just a little bit similar. Marinette and Ladybug are so alike in some ways it's almost like they're the same person."

Plagg choked on his cheese.

"Hey wait. Plagg?"

Danishes from the Dupain-Cheng bakery it was. Plagg leapt into the air. "Alright lover boy, let's go see your girlfriend."


End file.
